Leaders pay homage to Turkish Air Forces crew killed in helicopter crash

ANKARA

Four Turkish Air Forces crew members were killed when a military helicopter crashed in Ankara on Dec. 17. DHA Photo

Senior civilian and military leaders attended on Dec. 18 a ceremony for four Turkish Air Forces crew members who were killed when a military helicopter crashed in Ankara.

Pilot Major Ahmet Duman, Lt. Pilot Emre Acar, and aircraft technicians and first sergeants Erdinç Salkım and Hüseyin Ulucan were killed in the crash on Dec. 17.

The ceremony was held at the military school in the capital city of Ankara where the four were assigned. Parliament Speaker Cemil Çiçek, Chief of General Staff Gen. Necdet Özel, Deputy Prime Minister Beşir Atalay and Health Minister Mehmet Müezzinoğlu as well as top force commanders and comrades of the deceased attended the ceremony.

The S-70 Sikorsky helicopter crashed near the capital Ankara. It had been on a training mission when it hit the high-voltage transmission cables and crashed into a field 19 kilometers from the city center.

Following the ceremony, the coffins of all four were sent to their hometowns in four different provinces, in order to be buried there.